Incorporating Skill Practice in Crew
Crew is an excellent time to build community and focus on the habits of character. However, every time of day provides an opportunity to practice previous skills in a fun way!
If you are wondering what crew is, it is a time of day in our schedule that resembles a class meeting. It is how we start our day at Detroit Prep and how we end each day. Crew consists of four parts; greeting, share, initiative and debrief..
The initiative time during crew is usually when crew leaders will lead some type of game or activity. This is an excellent opportunity to integrate skill work into a fun and engaging game.
21: This game focuses on having your students practice skip counting.
Have your students stand in a circle.
Choose one student to start counting from 1 (this can also be done by skip counting by any number).
Move in one direction having each student only say 1 number. For example 1,2,3,4.
When a student says 21 they are out and you begin back at 1.
You can count by any amount, simply choose which number will “21”. This game is great for all ages.
I Have Who Has: This game is also great for all ages and allows students to practice their skills in ELA and Math. Many I Have Who Has games can be found on Teachers Pay Teachers or you can create your own.
Have your students sit at their seats.
Pass out the I Have Who Has cards.
Allow students to look at and read the cards. If it is math I often provide think time or scrap paper for students to complete work.
The person with the card says “I have the first card. Who has____?” Goes first.
Students must listen to what that person is saying and if they have what that person is asking for then they read their card.
The game keeps going until all the cards have been shared.
This is an amazing activity to practice any skill. It also helps students to work on their active listening skills since they need to be listening to what each person is saying. I also love to time my class to help make it a bit more competitive.
Around the World: This game is also great for all ages and allows students to practice their math facts.
Have your students stand in a circle.
One person (usually the teacher) stands in the center of the circle.
One student who is IT stands behind one person.
A math flash card is shown to the two students. Whoever says the correct answer first gets to travel clockwise to the next student in the circle.
If the IT person gets the answer incorrect they switch with the person they are standing behind and that person is now IT
Once the IT person has traveled around the entire circle they have won!
Educational games can be something your entire class looks forward to each. It is also an excellent opportunity to focus on skill areas you are their teacher thinking they may be lacking in. These games are so much fun your students won’t even know they are learning.